My sister Kelly graduated yesterday from West Virginia University, with a degree in advanced construction paper cutting or something like that... Actually it's called Theater Sciences or put a costume on an emo gay guy, I don't know. The way I look at it, she can now tell the texture of glitter to check it's quality, or how much ink is left in a marker, just by smelling it. I imagine she sniffed quite a few markers. Just think, (as I told her the other day) that she could have saved lots of money if she had just stayed in preschool a few more years and gotten the same experience! It is a bit depressing to think back and see that when I graduated High School, she was still in 8th grade, so I really slacked off! Granted I've lost about 14 semesters worth of school while working for the Army, so technically I could almost be a doctor by now. Wow, that almost makes me feel better.
But in all reality, I love her, and I'm very very proud of her! Good job Kelly. You'll never be as cool as I am though.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
random things cont...
9, or 10, or whatever number I was on before...
I go through swings of severe loneliness, depression, concern, apprehension, and looking forward to, all related to this deployment.
I figured out that I'm going to leave my truck in Idaho in the care of some very good family friends. The majority of the rest of my stuff will be in a storage shed somewhere. I hate packing, so if you want to come and shove some of my junk in a box for me, I would love the help!
I need to stop cussing... Yep, I'm willing to bet that 99.99% of you have never heard me even come close to swearing, mostly cause I only do it when working for the Army. I'm not the person who constantly vomits 4 letter words, I'm quite selective about it actually. However, I'm in a culture which lends itself to baser things at times, dealing with things that occasionally need highlighted, cussing does a decent job. And some Soldiers and situations tend to need to be cursed at more than others. But I'm going to stop. Today. I'm not even going to think them. I expect better from myself. Bet you didn't even know I cursed, did you?
I had a ton of mail waiting for me when I got home, including 3 wedding announcements. I fully expect that more than half of my close friends of the female persuasion will be married by the time I get home.
It's going to be easy to live the Gospel over there in relation to the big things (no sex, drugs, drinking) but it's going to be more of a challenge to find the quiet time to ponder life and the gospel, to really read my scriptures and pray the way I should.
I've set a lot of goals for this deployment.
Save money
Pay off all debts
Stop finishing people's sentences for them
Be more of a self starter
Develop more internal motivation
Learn Spanish
Learn more Arabic
Read one Church and one Secular book at a time
Don't waste time watching dumb movies or playing games
Go to the gym for an hour 4 times a week (come back ripped, make girls drool, I'm gonna be almost 28, and no job or degree when I get home, I'm gonna need some help...)
Learn my Army job better than I do now
Grow closer to God through constant prayer and having a song in my heart
Read my scriptures everyday, and if I have a day off, for several hours that day
Memorize scriptures that mean a lot to me
Don't worry so much about the people at home and where we're all going to fit into each others lives when I get back, it's in the Lord's hands, and there's not a thing I can do about it.
These are just a few of the goals I've set. Ok, they're most of them, but I've bitten off quite a bit here. I'm going to focus quite a bit on improving myself. Last deployment I wasted my time watching movies, sitting on my cot, and playing computer games. I blew money on stupid stuff because I was bored. NOT GONNA HAPPEN THIS TIME!!!! I'm going to buy 3 possibly 4 things this whole time I'm gone. A camera to take pictures with, a laptop to email friends and family, (and to update my blog of course) which will also be used in school the next time I'm actually allowed to go to school, and a motorcycle. Possibly a road bike, but that's up in the air. Oh, and I'm going to get into rock climbing when I get home.
I go through swings of severe loneliness, depression, concern, apprehension, and looking forward to, all related to this deployment.
I figured out that I'm going to leave my truck in Idaho in the care of some very good family friends. The majority of the rest of my stuff will be in a storage shed somewhere. I hate packing, so if you want to come and shove some of my junk in a box for me, I would love the help!
I need to stop cussing... Yep, I'm willing to bet that 99.99% of you have never heard me even come close to swearing, mostly cause I only do it when working for the Army. I'm not the person who constantly vomits 4 letter words, I'm quite selective about it actually. However, I'm in a culture which lends itself to baser things at times, dealing with things that occasionally need highlighted, cussing does a decent job. And some Soldiers and situations tend to need to be cursed at more than others. But I'm going to stop. Today. I'm not even going to think them. I expect better from myself. Bet you didn't even know I cursed, did you?
I had a ton of mail waiting for me when I got home, including 3 wedding announcements. I fully expect that more than half of my close friends of the female persuasion will be married by the time I get home.
It's going to be easy to live the Gospel over there in relation to the big things (no sex, drugs, drinking) but it's going to be more of a challenge to find the quiet time to ponder life and the gospel, to really read my scriptures and pray the way I should.
I've set a lot of goals for this deployment.
Save money
Pay off all debts
Stop finishing people's sentences for them
Be more of a self starter
Develop more internal motivation
Learn Spanish
Learn more Arabic
Read one Church and one Secular book at a time
Don't waste time watching dumb movies or playing games
Go to the gym for an hour 4 times a week (come back ripped, make girls drool, I'm gonna be almost 28, and no job or degree when I get home, I'm gonna need some help...)
Learn my Army job better than I do now
Grow closer to God through constant prayer and having a song in my heart
Read my scriptures everyday, and if I have a day off, for several hours that day
Memorize scriptures that mean a lot to me
Don't worry so much about the people at home and where we're all going to fit into each others lives when I get back, it's in the Lord's hands, and there's not a thing I can do about it.
These are just a few of the goals I've set. Ok, they're most of them, but I've bitten off quite a bit here. I'm going to focus quite a bit on improving myself. Last deployment I wasted my time watching movies, sitting on my cot, and playing computer games. I blew money on stupid stuff because I was bored. NOT GONNA HAPPEN THIS TIME!!!! I'm going to buy 3 possibly 4 things this whole time I'm gone. A camera to take pictures with, a laptop to email friends and family, (and to update my blog of course) which will also be used in school the next time I'm actually allowed to go to school, and a motorcycle. Possibly a road bike, but that's up in the air. Oh, and I'm going to get into rock climbing when I get home.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Random things...
Random things that I have either realized or had solidified for me while I've been at this training.
1. I can be calm under pressure. While I was eating lunch one day I had a snake crawl on me, and basically just hang out next to me. It was scared and with me trying to get everyone away from me so it wouldn't freak out any more than it already was, it was a tense moment. I stayed totally still and calm while everyone else was running and screaming away, then running back to see exactly what it looked like (while it was still on me, thus scaring the snake even more). Eventually once I yelled enough at everyone to get away, the snake wandered off, and I finished my lunch. Nobody else sat down to finish their lunch.
2. That same group of Soldiers who were running away screaming and scared, with some practice (quite a bit of practice) have me convinced that they can kill a vast amount of bad guys.
3. My rank does scary things. People salute me (as they should), call me Sir, Chief or Mr. McGill now instead of Sarge. It makes my troopies tense occasionally, they're more formal around me (as they should). The other night, I walked up on a group of them talking about doing some semi mean prank to another guy, but as soon as they saw it was me, they stopped talking about it. If I was still enlisted, they'd probably have included me in the plot. They now expect me to have all the answers, moreso than before. If I tell them to go do something, they REALLY HAVE to follow what I tell them, even if it's to go die...I now have a whole new set of expectations placed upon me. For example, when I was enlisted I could go eat lunch whenever with whomever I wanted, now it's expected that I wait and eat with another officer.
4. People don't like it when I tell them I died. During training, I sometimes get hit or have something blown off. Like Wednesday I was shot in the neck, and since my medics didn't get to me in time, I died. So in addition to all the things I wasn't really planning on telling you all about when I get over there (getting hit by IED's, getting shot at, being mortared) I now won't tell you about me being simulated dead. Even though it weighs on me that I'll come back missing an arm or a leg.
5. According to the Army, I'm a higher risk for suicide. I just got out of a relationship, I experienced a big life change (swapping from being elisted to officer and joining a new unit), I've had previous history of sorts, depression runs in my family (gallops is more like it), and I face quite a bit of uncertainty when I get home, I often feel like I don't have much to hold onto, to look forward to, when I get home. And I'm talking people, not things or events there... But I'll be ok, so no worries...
6. I have recurring nightmares and lose quite a bit of sleep b/c of the deployment and the weight that I'm placing on myself. Happened last time, it's happening again this time.
7. I'll be going to one of the largest, nicest bases in Iraq, and with my job and rank, I'll probably never leave the base, and be very nice and safe.
8. I'm going to really miss quite a few people and places here in Utah and all over.
1. I can be calm under pressure. While I was eating lunch one day I had a snake crawl on me, and basically just hang out next to me. It was scared and with me trying to get everyone away from me so it wouldn't freak out any more than it already was, it was a tense moment. I stayed totally still and calm while everyone else was running and screaming away, then running back to see exactly what it looked like (while it was still on me, thus scaring the snake even more). Eventually once I yelled enough at everyone to get away, the snake wandered off, and I finished my lunch. Nobody else sat down to finish their lunch.
2. That same group of Soldiers who were running away screaming and scared, with some practice (quite a bit of practice) have me convinced that they can kill a vast amount of bad guys.
3. My rank does scary things. People salute me (as they should), call me Sir, Chief or Mr. McGill now instead of Sarge. It makes my troopies tense occasionally, they're more formal around me (as they should). The other night, I walked up on a group of them talking about doing some semi mean prank to another guy, but as soon as they saw it was me, they stopped talking about it. If I was still enlisted, they'd probably have included me in the plot. They now expect me to have all the answers, moreso than before. If I tell them to go do something, they REALLY HAVE to follow what I tell them, even if it's to go die...I now have a whole new set of expectations placed upon me. For example, when I was enlisted I could go eat lunch whenever with whomever I wanted, now it's expected that I wait and eat with another officer.
4. People don't like it when I tell them I died. During training, I sometimes get hit or have something blown off. Like Wednesday I was shot in the neck, and since my medics didn't get to me in time, I died. So in addition to all the things I wasn't really planning on telling you all about when I get over there (getting hit by IED's, getting shot at, being mortared) I now won't tell you about me being simulated dead. Even though it weighs on me that I'll come back missing an arm or a leg.
5. According to the Army, I'm a higher risk for suicide. I just got out of a relationship, I experienced a big life change (swapping from being elisted to officer and joining a new unit), I've had previous history of sorts, depression runs in my family (gallops is more like it), and I face quite a bit of uncertainty when I get home, I often feel like I don't have much to hold onto, to look forward to, when I get home. And I'm talking people, not things or events there... But I'll be ok, so no worries...
6. I have recurring nightmares and lose quite a bit of sleep b/c of the deployment and the weight that I'm placing on myself. Happened last time, it's happening again this time.
7. I'll be going to one of the largest, nicest bases in Iraq, and with my job and rank, I'll probably never leave the base, and be very nice and safe.
8. I'm going to really miss quite a few people and places here in Utah and all over.
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